US fears another killing spree as sniper kills three

FEAR stalked West Virginia yesterday after three people were shot dead by a suspected sniper in attacks eerily reminiscent of the killing spree that terrorised the Washington area last year.

The victims appear to have been selected at random by the same shooter, police officers said. All three were gunned down outside grocery shops around Charleston over the last five days.

Each of the victims two men and a woman was killed by a single shot, late at night, and the slugs taken from two of the victims have the same characteristics, police said.

They are hunting a black pick-up truck seen by a witness at the scene of the third shooting.

"It is our belief the shooter made the shot from inside the truck, due to the fact that, immediately after the shot, the truck sped away, with tyres spinning," said Phil Morris, chief of Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

The only description of the driver is that he was a large white male.

John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested after the sniper shootings that terrified the Washington area last October. They are being investigated in connection with 21 shootings 14 of them fatal.

With the similarities between the attacks so strong, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives joined state and local authorities in the hunt for the West Virginia shooter.

"It's like everyone's life's in danger," said one local resident, Alicia Campbell.

Police have acknowledged that the bullets in all three of the recent attacks were fired from the same calibre and class of weapon, all from more than 30 yards away.

While authorities stopped short of definitely linking the killings, they have recommended that residents do their shopping during the day, and warned that if anyone has to go to a petrol station at night, that they not go alone. All three killings happened after dark.

The victims were identified as: Gary Carrier, 34; Jeanie Patton, 31, and Okey Meadows, 26.